It’s hard to argue that automakers’ share prices are cause for celebration. What Porsche, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz deliver on the trading floor raises questions. Oliver Blume overloaded with his numerous tasks? Oliver Zipse without a compelling answer to the upheavals? Ola Källenius took a wrong turn into a lost luxury strategy? Or has a policy that was not thought of with the end in mind put the industry in a predicament? In any case, threatening signs can be observed. According to employee circles, temporary employment contracts are increasingly being terminated. That would be very worrying, as the botched economic policy has so far not been noticed because there is no significant unemployment. No press releases are sent downhill, but the effects cannot be hidden for long. The fact that Porsche only produces its electric flagship Taycan in single shifts is a bad sign, and it becomes even worse given the fact that the model has just been refreshed. Mercedes-Benz wants to become a kind of Hermès of the automotive industry, but of all places, the Sindelfingen flagship factory Factory 56 and the flagship S-Class and EQS that it produces will now only run in single-shift operation. The all-electric EQS in particular seems to fall far short of expectations and you hardly see it on the road. The S-Class has always set standards. Has? Volkswagen’s production, especially that of electric cars, swings between a lot of reduction and a little increase, and that doesn’t seem healthy either. The manufacturers and suppliers involved in the automotive industry are the industry factor par excellence in Germany. “Et hät still jot jejange” may only apply in Cologne. Although we would have to talk about Ford.
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